Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) are a unique class of polymer materials which combine the elastomer properties of thermoset rubbers with the processing efficiency of plastics. TPEs are high performance and versatile materials, either used on their own or overmolded to provide tactile or functional features on components molded from other polymers such as PP, PE, ABS, PC, SMMA, POM, and Nylon.
Alliance Polymers & Services (APS) offers a complete line of Maxelast® TPEs engineered to be easily fabricated by injection molding, extrusion, coating, and blow molding. Maxelast® TPEs provides designers and end-users numerous alternatives to natural rubber and thermosetting rubbers by offering design flexibility and cost-reduction opportunities.
Features of Maxelast® TPEs:
• Soft, flexible feel
• Excellent grip characteristics
• Overmolding over various plastics
• Good compression set
• Low specific gravity
• Easy to process and color
• Extrusion, injection and blow moldable
• Translucent and clear grades available
• Flame retardant grades
• FDA compliant and medical grades available
Applications of Maxelast® TPEs:
• Appliances
• Wire & Cable
• Automotive
• Medical Device
• Electrical & Electronics
• Soft Touch & Ergonomics
• Sporting Goods
• Building & Construction
• Footwear & Foot Care
• Toys
• Writing Instruments
• Consumer and Industrial Sealing
• Packaging
Many of Maxelast® TPEs products also meet or exceed applicable requirements of Underwriters Laboratories (UL); the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); as well as specifications set out by other governmental, regulatory, industrial agencies plus automotive OEMs.
Alliance Polymers & Services, LLC (APS), in Romulus, MI, is a full service warehousing, distribution, shipping and technical service organization dedicated to providing TPE, TPU and other elastomer marketers and processors with all their product and technical support needs. APS currently markets and supports Polymax Maxelast® TPEs and BASF Elastollan® TPUs.
APS is owned and operated by three of the industry’s leading marketing and technical support executives, Roger J. Huarng, Stephane Morin and Ron Sheu, formerly with BASF Corporation. They work with a series of independent technical agents located in cities throughout the North American Continent.
For more information on TPEs for conventional, unique or highly durable applications, contact:
Horses are beautiful animals. Like all animals they have feelings and suffer pain. For over 1,000 years, only metal horseshoes have been used to protect their hooves. Metal shoes cause shock and vibration from the hoof through the knee and hock. Nanoflex horseshoes are designed with comfort and lameness prevention in mind.
There is zero shock or vibration using Nanoflex horseshoes. Compare Olympic athletes who have less than 5% lameness, and compare the shoes they use, you should understand why horses stay sounder, jump higher, and run faster using the sneaker-like NanoFlexhorseshoes.
Since the Romans, horses have been shod using metal shoes. These shoes, while sufficient for the times, now are antique and borderline barbaric. The steel or aluminum horseshoes used today do not flex! The NanoFlex horseshoe was designed with the comfort and lameness prevention of the horse in mind. NanoFlex horseshoes are made with a space-age polymer (BASF Elastollan® S90A55) combined with nanotechnology to move and expand in every direction as the hoof, relieving the shock from the thousands of pounds of pressure of each step taken by the horse. This revolutionary new construction and design of horseshoes create a flexible shoe with long lasting wear.
Alliance Polymers & Services, LLC (APS) in Romulus, MI, is a full service warehousing, distribution, and technical service organization dedicated to helping TPV, TPE-S, TPU and other elastomer marketers and processors with all their product and technical support needs. The firm currently markets and supports Polymax Maxelast® TPEs and BASF Elastollan® TPUs.
In the Spring of 2011,the new APS Compounding operation will be able to create and offer specialized TPE formulations for customers throughout North America.
For more information on conventional, unique or highly durable applications, contact:
Alliance Polymers & Services (APS) officials announce the founding of APS Compounding along with the purchase of two twin screw extruders. The move will enable APS Compounding to streamline existing TPE compounds to better accommodate customer needs, provide specialized samples, and develop new grades for specific applications.
This news coincided with the announcement that Alliance Polymers & Services (APS) will represent the line of Polymax Maxelast® TPEs on the North American continent. APS is a leading distributor of BASF Elastollan® TPUs (thermoplastic polyurethanes) and Polymax Maxelast® TPEs (SBC-based thermoplastic elastomers).
According to APS Principal Stephane Morin, speaking from the firm’s Romulus, MI headquarters, “We saw a need early on to not only offer standard and custom grades of thermoplastic elastomers from our two great suppliers, but the need to offer additional services to provide specific small and large volume custom compounds and beside-the-press tweaking. Our goal from the start has been to help customers meet their specific, and sometimes novel, TPE needs. The addition of two full extrusion lines will enable us to do just this.”
“We must point out,” continues Morin, “that the new APS Compounding will complement, not compete with, our existing TPE product distribution lines.”
Plans call for the first extrusion line to be operational by the Spring of 2011. A second extrusion line is scheduled to go on-stream shortly thereafter. Both twin screw extruders will give customers of APS Compounding access to small and large volumes of custom formulated TPEs.
Alliance Polymers & Services, LLC (APS) in Romulus, MI, is a full service warehousing, distribution, and technical service organization dedicated to helping TPV, TPE-S, TPU and other elastomer marketers and processors with all their product and technical support needs. The firm currently markets and supports Polymax Maxelast® TPEs and BASF Elastollan® TPUs. The new APS Compounding operation will be able to create and offer specialized TPE formulations for customers throughout North America.
For more information on the new TPE compounding services, contact:
Alliance Polymers & Services, LLC (APS), a leading distributor of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), continues to add to its team of elastomer technical service specialists by appointing Eric R. Elsner as West Coast Regional Sales Manager. Eric will provide commercial and technical support to companies located in California, Arizona and Nevada.
Eric Elsner earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Illinois State University in Industrial Technology, with emphasis on plastics technology. The qualifications, expertise and experience he brings to APS include more than a decade with leading distribution firms including M. Holland Company, Ashland Distribution and PolyOne Distribution (formerly M.A. Hanna Resin Distribution).
Among Eric Elsner’s responsibilities in his new position with APS will be inventory management, margins, forecasts and general technical support. He has particularly strong skills, according to company sources, in providing value-added problem-solving and solutions as well as analyzing business trends to maximize volume and revenue.
Alliance Polymers & Services, LLC (APS), in Romulus, MI, is a full service warehousing, distribution, and technical service organization dedicated to providing TPE, TPU and other elastomer marketers and processors with all their product and technical support needs. APS currently markets and supports Polymax Maxelast® TPEs and BASF Elastollan® TPUs.
APS is owned and operated by three of the industry’s leading marketing and technical support executives, Roger J. Huarng, Stephane Morin and Ron Sheu, formerly with BASF Corporation. They work with a series of independent technical agents located in cities throughout the North American Continent.
For more information on TPEs for conventional, unique or highly durable applications, contact:
Patented GoClaws® made from a high grade TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) from Advanced Traction Systems, Inc. (www.flextrax.com) are now being endorsed by Alliance Polymers & Services (APS). APS is the primary materials supplier and technical molding resource for the manufacture of GoClaws® and other related Advanced Traction Systems (ATS) company products.
The new injection molded plastic product is taking municipal, fire, police, ambulance, as well as private owners and operators, off-road enthusiasts, car and truck fleet companies, by storm. GoClaws® tire chains are extremely durable. The patented product is easy to install and works extremely well in snow, ice , mud and sand. In recent tests by ATS, even after being driven on snow-covered and dry pavement more than 300 miles, the plastic tire chains continued to perform and showed little, if any, signs of wear.
Developed as a viable alternative to conventional, fast-wearing, noisy and difficult-to-install metal chains, GoClaws® are the result of many years of design and development based on proven techniques of mechanical engineering, physics, material selection, advanced plastics molding and hydraulics. Materials supplier Alliance Polymers & Services, a formidable TPE supplier, saw the potential of GoClaws®and invested heavily in the company in terms of providing material samples, beside-the-press advice and formulations, cost breaks on materials, and extensive technical support.
GoClaws® and other vehicular traction products are designed and manufactured by Advanced Traction Systems, Inc., Cleveland, TN. Other company traction products are sold under the names Flex-Trax®, Snoboots® and SnoClaws®. Features and benefits of the products include: snow or mud tires only when a user needs them; easy installation; no tools required; can be installed even when the vehicle is stuck; works in snow, ice, mud and sand; self-cleaning; self-tracking; easy on tires, wheels and the pavement; tough enough to be driven on dry pavement; lightweight; will not rust; durable; and competitively priced.
Alliance Polymers and Advanced Traction Systems proudly note that some of the most prominent distribution and retail outlets are testing and selling the new products. A large portion of the success of the design is attributed to the high quality and unique durability of the thermoplastic polyurethane, a proprietary polymer which is distributed nationally by Alliance Polymers & Services.
Alliance Polymers & Services in Romulus, MI, is a full service warehousing, distribution, shipping and technical service organization dedicated to helping TPE, TPU and other elastomer marketers and processors with all their product and technical support needs. The firm currently markets and supports Polymax Maxelast® TPEs and BASF Elastollan® TPUs.
APS is owned and operated by three of the industry’s leading marketing and technical support executives, Roger Huarng, Stephane Morin and Ron Sheu, formerly with BASF Corporation. They work with a series of independent technical agents located in markets throughout the North American Continent.
For more information on TPEs for conventional, unique or highly durable applications contact:
Alliance Polymers & Services LLC,
30735 Cypress Road, Suite 400, Romulus, MI 48174.
Tel: 734-710-6700.
Web: www.apstpe.com.
Email: sales@apstpe.com
For more information on the line of traction products contact:
Advanced Traction Systems, Inc.
2765 Michigan Avenue Road NE, Cleveland, TN 37312
Tel: 1-800-788-9912 Fax: 1-800-788-9217 www.YouTube.com/user/nopieinthesky.
With top quality products, a reputation for good customer service and continuous progress and development, Elastollan® has secured a firm position in numerous markets. Alliance Polymers & Services (APS) would like to share our know-how and experience to contribute to your own success: The versatile Elastollan® is the ideal material to fulfill your requirements.
Thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) can be found just about anywhere, filling the void between flexible rubber and rigid plastic or simply serving as a replacement for other materials. Applications are limitless because TPUs are known for their extremely high wear resistance, good compression set, excellent tear strength, high elasticity, high transparency, great low temperature performance, durable environmental resistance and excellent processability. Combine this with their resistance to water and high temperatures, oils and grease while maintaining superior mechanical property performance, TPUs should be on everyone’s list who involved with product design, production and marketing. TPUs are a material that can add value and appeal.
Thermoplastic polyurethanes are not only the most versatile of any group of plastics, but they also offer the widest variety of technology platforms with their ability to be formulated into an infinite number of variations in chemistry and structure (stiffness, hardness and densities) to meet the most challenging needs of a particular application. And they are phthalate free. Of special note is that most polymerization of TPUs is done by the customer, not the chemical manufacturer, thus giving the processor broad control over the finished product.
By way of background, thermoplastic polyurethanes, part of a larger group of elastomers called thermoplastic elastomers or TPEs, were developed in the early part of the 20th century. They didn’t go fully commercial until the 1950’s, but are noted to be the first major elastomers to be processed by thermoplastic processing methods. Today, they are broken down into two types: 1) polyester-based TPUs, derived from adipic acid esters for applications requiring high abrasion resistance, excellent mechanical properties and 2) polyether-based TPUs for applications calling for good mechanical properties, excellent low temperature flexibility and great hydrolysis resistance.
Applications Abound Because TPUs Offer Great Features and Benefits
Generally applications include all types of consumer and industrial products (where a soft, grippy surface and rubbery, colorful or clear finish is desired) to seals and gaskets, appliances, transportation (automotive, truck, recreational vehicles), medical products, furnishings, inflatables, marine and agricultural equipment, military equipment, electronics and building and construction products, plus coatings and adhesives, among others.
There’s good reason for the popularity of thermoplastic polyurethanes. Depending upon the grade selected, they offer designers, processors and marketers a slew of benefits and features because they are:
Tough and durable, unparalleled with their abrasion resistance
Well suited for both soft and rigid applications
Offer good color stability with UV additives
Formulated for applications calling for good-to-excellent transparency
Recyclable
Resistant to oil, grease, fuel, solvents and chemicals
Cut and tear resistant
Offer low temperature flexibility and fatigue resistance
Resistant to creep in load bearing applications
Available in halogen and non-halogen (fire retardant) grades
Depending on the grade, capable of being injection molded, extruded, blow molded, calendared, slush molded or thermoformed
Readily available in a variety of hardnesses, ranging from 50 Shore A to 85 Shore D
Fungus and microbial resistant, especially polyether TPUs
Good for applications calling for ultrasound transparency
Suited for both soft and rigid applications
Light weight (especially as a metals replacement)
Provided with good elasticity qualities
Hydrolytically stable and naturally antimicrobial (polyether TPUs)
Assured to provide good color stability with UV additives
Capable of offering excellent adhesion strength to many different substrates in overmolding soft-touch applications
Consider Designing TPUs Into Your Products, or Adding Them to Existing Ones
Polyurethanes move quickly to the top of any preferred materials list of a designer, processor or manufacturer when the goals are, among other things, toughness/tensile strength, good aesthetics, appealing hand feel (hapstic), abrasion resistance and low-temp flexibility. Add to this other beneficial physical properties which include good impact resistance and tear strength, plus a wide selection of hardnesses.
In recent years, new thermoplastic polyurethane offerings coming onto the market have pushed the performance envelope – these are non-plasticized soft TPUs, low density TPU foams for products like shoe soles and cable, high heat TPUs for wire and cable applications, TPUs with a low coefficient of friction and new formulations to compete with flexible PVC, PP (polypropylene) and polyester in elastic nonwovens.
Newer, non-plasticized, soft TPUs with special polyester chemistry, crystallize quickly (for short molding cycles and for facilitating thin-wall extrusion), yet have the same molding characteristics as plasticized TPUs with the same hardness (60 to 75 Shore A). The difference is there is no gradual increase in hardness with time, particularly useful in overmolding applications. Current products applications include bearing dust covers and seals and mounting-plate rings, where requirements call for pressure deformation resistance, ball joint seals and numerous other applications.
The inherent tacky nature of soft TPUs has seen the development of special grades that don’t require typical additives in order to reduce or eliminate tackiness. They feature a lower coefficient of friction while maintaining transparency. These new offerings have a coefficient of friction about 90% lower than previous grades, and offer a wider procession window in blow molding and sheet extrusion processing. Since tackiness is eliminated without lubricants, waxes or inorganic fillers, the potential for blooming or adverse affects on performance, transparency, surface roughness or adhesion on the end product is eliminated.
Recent developments in light TPU foams, with density as much as 60% less than previous TPUs, open new doors for improving existing applications in cable jacketing, tubing, profiles and sheet.
New grades of both polyester- and polyether-based formulations that boost performance have come onto the scene, offering high elasticity as well as high strength along with good sealing capabilities. The primary advantages of these new TPUs over non-elastic polypropylene or PET materials are their ability to make bi-directionally elastic non-wovens in a single step and end-products that provide better sealing, recovery and filtering performance.
Still not convinced by the maverick performance of polyurethanes? According to industry data, the popularity of polyurethanes accounts for more than 15.4 US tons or 14 million metric tons sold and used annually, with a high growth rate over the past 25 years, and yes, including the recession starting in 2008. TPUs continue to grow at ambitious rates (8% or more). As a point of interest, the top applications for TPUs are building and construction, transportation, furniture and bedding and appliances, closely followed by packaging, textiles, fibers and apparel and machinery and foundry. Look into today’s TPUs to see what you – and your products – may be missing. The evidence is most convincing for a bright future for TPUs, taking the lead in applications calling for dependable performance, recyclability, ruggedness and design freedom.
TPUs (thermoplastic polyurethanes) have achieved widespread usage and popularity in thousands of products, owing to their durability, softness and colorability among other benefits. In addition, they are easy to process.
For more information on products and services, contact:
Before Joining Alliance Polymers & Services (APS) Ron Sheu helped develop the Banana Bunker!
Have you ever had the bad experience that the tasty banana you took with you to the office had turned into unappetizing mush by the time you were ready to eat it? Paul Stremple, CEO of Cultured Containers, certainly has. Normally, he is busy creating products for Gucci or Ralph Loren, but he was so absorbed by the problem with the banana that he decided to look for a solution here as well. Together with Ron Sheu, applications developer at BASF, he created this banana protector, called the BananaBunker®. Styrolux® 3G46, an SBS made by BASF, turned out to be the right material for this since it is especially well-suited for blow-molding and short cycle times. The Banana Bunker is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Now Stremple wants to turn his attention to new tasks - protective packaging for other types of snacks is to follow.
For more information on products and services, contact:
Ron Sheu, one of the plastics industry’s leading elastomers development and application executives, has joined Alliance Polymers & Services, LLC (APS) as a partner. He is now one of three principals of APS, along with Roger Huarng and Stephane Morin.
Ron's role at APS will complement those of the other two principals by adding depth in applications and development technical expertise for the firm’s growing customer base throughout North America. He is an acknowledged senior level technical expert on thermoplastic elastomers and is key to APS now selling the highly competitive line of Maxelast® TPEs from Polymax Elastomer Technology. Maxelast TPEs are formulated to compete in quality and processability with every popular grade of existing TPE.
Ron Sheu was the Market Development Manager with the Styrolux® SBC Business Group of BASF Corporation. Sheu was a long-time employee of BASF in the U.S., having worked for the firm for 20 years. Prior to that, he was with the former GE Plastics.
A native of Taiwan, Ron came to North America, earning a degree in polymer science and continued his education at Lehigh University where he earned both a Masters and a Ph.D degree in polymer science.
APS, currently offers the full line of BASF Elastollan® TPUs and Polymax Maxelast® TPEs, providing product, processing assistance, advice and answers for the design and molding needs of plastics processors and designers throughout the North American Continent. The company was founded in 2009 and has become one of the leading elastomers distributors in North America, selling among other product lines, Elastollan® TPUs from BASF and Maxelast® TPEs from Polymax.
Alliance Polymers and Services, LLC, with headquarters in Romulus, MI, is a full-service warehousing, distribution, shipping and technical service organization dedicated to helping TPU and other elastomer marketers and processors with all their product and technical support needs.
For more information on products and services, contact:
Visit booth 3946 at PlastecWest in Anaheim, California, February 8-10 to meet Roger Huarng of Alliance Polymers & Services (APS). Roger loves to talk TPE, so give him something to smile about.
For more information on products and services, contact:
New Formulations, New Applications Continue to Contribute to Ongoing Success
By Stephane Morin, Alliance Polymers & Services, LLC
Before TPEs (thermoplastic elastomers), there was thermoset rubber. But there was a need for a better type of product – one that could increase part production (lowering cycle times), offer lower weight, be easily colorable, be soft or rigid, be recyclable, be produced over other materials in a two shot process (overmolding), and contribute to lower part costs.
Enter TPEs in the 1970’s on a mass scale, soon to be followed by other soft elastomers that soon fell under the general category of TPEs – TPOs or thermoplastic olefins, TPVs or thermoplastic vulcanizates, TPUs or thermoplastic polyurethanes and dozens of new grades that were and are simply ‘alloyed’ products comprised of different components.
Soon thereafter, were grades that could not only be injection molded, but also extruded, blow molded or thermoformed. New Compounds, New End Products Products started appearing on the market with a new look and feel, enabling manufacturers to up sell their wares to appeal to new markets – the venerable power drill comes to mind – the same basic drill innards over the years, but ‘reintroduced’ with new, visually-appealing grips.
Then came new and better products for goods such as sporting equipment, automotive seals and hoses, medical goods, appliance parts, window and glazing seals, wire and cable applications and hundreds of other products in dozens of markets. Thanks to TPEs, they not only looked better and could be processed better, but they performed better and offered a variety of textural and finishing options. Depending on the application and the product, they were softer or harder, more resistant to chemicals and oils, more durable, able withstand far higher and lower temperatures, and ultimately would and could last longer.
The advent of TPEs enabled designers, marketers and manufacturers to offer products with much broader options for design, including improved grip with built-in ergonomics, improved sealing, living hinges, noise and/or vibration damping and protection, and reduce scrap, among others. This was combined by improving product development cycle times, speeding up production cycle times, reducing materials usage and generally decreasing production costs. More recently came bonding grades which maximized the potential of overmolding technology. This reduced or eliminated the need for adhesives or other mechanical interlocks to combine different materials, including grades that could be bonded onto many other polymers as well as many metals (and in fact, replaced many metals). With the ability to overmold onto a variety of materials, components now can easily and cost-effectively produced/molded into soft/hard material combination, while all the while ensuring outstanding performance. At the present time, there are numerous classes of TPEs.
Which TPE to Use?
Below are listed the advantages of each class of TPE. Using these guidelines, potential users can quickly and accurately narrow the type of soft elastomer best suited for their application:
• Polyurethanes (TPU)
• Styrenics (TPE-S)
• Copolyesters (COPE)
• Polyamides (PEBA)
• Polyolefin Alloys (TPV)
• Polyolefin Blends (TPO)
The accompanying chart will give potential users an indication where each class is best suitable for applications depending on prince and performance.
(click on chart to enlarge)
For more information on products and services, contact:
